Cilantro Lime Chicken Taco Salad

This Chicken Taco Salad will be the only chicken salad you ever want to make!

This Chicken Taco Salad is bursting with tender, juicy chicken, all your favorite fiestalicious salad fixings including lettuce, tomatoes, beans, bell peppers, cheese, avocados, crunchy, salty tortilla chips all topped with Creamy Baja Catalina Dressing. This Chicken Taco Salad ingredients can be prepped in advance and the dressing can be made days ahead of time for a quick and easy lunch or dinner any day of the week – which is great thing because you won’t be able to stop craving this Cilantro Lime Chicken Taco Salad!

CHICKEN TACO SALAD RECIPE VIDEO

Chicken Taco Salad

Who loves taco salad? The crunchy lettuce and tortilla chips, the creamy avocados and cheese, the fresh corn and bell peppers – it is a texture lovers paradise. Once you swap your beef for chicken and you have true paradise because its practically guilt free plus hearty, satisfying and fresh!

One of the most popular taco salad recipes is the combination of ground beef with Catalina Dressing. But seeing as this has been done again and again, I thought I’d bring you a different version – an elevated Chicken Taco Salad that is drop-your-jaw deeeeelicious. As in your jaw will drop in shock at just how good this salad is and it will drop to continuously shovel as much salad into your mouth as humanly possible.

The Best Chicken for Chicken Taco Salad

This Cilantro Lime Chicken is wonderfully juicy, tangy and garlicky but not over-the-top flavorful, so it’s ready to get doused in our homemade intoxicatingly delicious Creamy Baja Catalina Dressing.

I use chicken breasts because they emerge wonderfully juicy once marinated but you are welcome to use chicken thighs as well. You can even turn this into a shrimp or salmon taco salad and use the same tantalizing marinade.

How do I cook Chicken for Chicken Taco Salad?

You can grill or pan fry this Cilantro Lime Chicken, which means you can devour this Chicken Taco Salad year round. And you are going to want to devour it year round.

To Grill:

Grease and preheat the grill to medium heat, 375-450°F.

Drain chicken from marinade, pat off excess and add to grill. Grill chicken undisturbed for 5-7 minutes per side, or until chicken is cooked through. (An inserted thermometer should read 165 degrees F.

Heat one tablespoon olive oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium high heat. Once very hot, drain chicken from marinade, pat off excess and add to skillet.

Cook undisturbed for 3-4 minutes, or until nicely browned on one side. Turn chicken over, cover, and reduce heat to medium. Cook for approximately 4-6 more minutes (depending on thickness of chicken), or until chicken is cooked through.

What’s the Best Dressing for Chicken Taco Salad?

Chicken Taco Salad is often served with Catalina Dressing, but this isn’t just any Catalina Dressing, it is BAJA Catalina Dressing! What makes this zesty Catalina Dressing “Baja” style is the addition of one tablespoon of our reserved Catalina marinade which boasts cilantro, lime, garlic, chili powder, ground cumin, smoked paprika, etc. By reserving one tablespoon for our dressing, we are doubling the flavor without doubling the work.

Do I have to Add Mayonnaise?

The creamy aspect of the Catalina Dressing comes from whisking in both mayonnaise and sour cream to our Catalina Dressing. I love this creamilicoius twist but if you prefer more of a vinaigrette then feel free to replace the mayo/sour cream with canola oil.

The dressing is super quick to whip up and the sweetness is a wonderful complement to the lime punch of the chicken, but just be aware that people seem to have a wide range of opinions as to how sweet Catalina Dressing should be, so you probably want to start with less sugar and add more to taste.

What Goes in Chicken Salad?

In addition to our juicy Cilantro Lime Chicken and Baja Catalina Dressing, this epic chicken salad is supported by an encore cast of:

crunchy lettuce

crisp red bell peppers

sweet fresh corn

creamy avocado

hearty black beans

cheese crunchy, salty tortilla chips

Once you toss all of these ingredients together you have tons of flavor and texture in every bite. That being said, these ingredients are just a guideline. You can use more or less of each ingredient, add other vegetables or omit some completely. The ingredient list is up to you to make it YOUR favorite Chicken Taco Salad!

How Do I serve Chicken Taco Salad?

There are three ways to serve Chicken Taco Salad:

If you don’t expect or want leftovers: add all of the salad ingredients to a large bowl and toss with desired amount of dressing.

If you expect leftovers: add all of the salad ingredients to a large bowl except the avocados and tortilla strips. Let leftovers top individual servings with dressing, avocados and tortilla strips.

Create a Taco Salad Bar by lining up all of the ingredients in separate serving bowls and let guests assemble their own Chicken Taco Salad.

Can I Make Chicken Taco Salad Ahead of Time?

Yes! Both the Cilantro Lime Chicken and the Catalina Dressing can be made and refrigerated ahead of time. All the fixings except the avocados can be chopped and stored in separate airtight containers so this Chicken Taco Salad can come together in a flash when you are ready to chow down.

All that’s left to do is give them a toss to create the perfect compliment of textures and flavors in every Chicken Taco Salad bite! And then let your jaw drop…

Pin it to your SALAD, MEXICAN, CHICKEN or DINNER Board to SAVE for later!

This Cilantro Lime Chicken Taco Salad is flavor/texture heaven! This Cilantro Lime Chicken Taco Salad is bursting with tender, juicy chicken, all your favorite fiestalicious salad fixings including crunchy, salty tortilla chips and the zesty, sweet and the tangy Creamy Baja Catalina Dressing is out of this world delicious! You won't be able to stop munching this Cilantro Lime Chicken Taco Salad!

Meanwhile, whisk together all of the Dressing ingredients in a medium bowl, including the 1 tablespoon reserved Cilantro Lime Marinade. Store in the refrigerator. Best if chilled at least 30 minutes. May keep in an airtight container up to 7 days.

To assemble, add the Salad Ingredients to a large bowl and toss to combine. Drizzle individual servings with desired amount of dressing. Season with additional salt, pepper, hot sauce and/or lime juice to taste.

Recipe Notes

*For more of a vinaigrette, you may sub the mayo and sour cream for canola oil

You don’t use the marinade used for the raw chicken. As the recipe stated, you make the marinade and set aside 2 tablespoons of the marinade. One tablespoon is used to made the dressing, the other tablespoon is used to put on the cooked chicken. The remainder of the marinade is what is used to marinade the chicken. I suggest you go back and read the recipe again.

I have made so many of your chicken recipes. They are all amazing and are always packed with multi level flavours which I love. The family loves them too. We’ll be trying this chicken taco salad tonight. I might have snuck a taste of the marinade and salad dressing already :). So good.

It was delicious. A hit for the whole family. Looking to try more of your salad recipes. My daughter and I were scrolling through your desserts and couldn’t choose just one. We had even just filled ourselves on the amazing salad and still felt we had space for several of the sweet treats. Thanks again.

The honey buffalo meatballs and slow cooker cranberry meatballs are also fantastic. My daughter loves putting them in a crispy bun with crunchy coleslaw and some type of dressing. Makes dinner night a lot easier! Thanks again.

Hi Ellie, you don’t use the marinade that the chicken has been in – in step 1 it says, “Prepare Cilantro Lime Chicken according to directions, reserving 1 tablespoon marinade for dressing.” That is the 1 tablespoon you use in the dressing.

♡♡ Delishious! I make homemade Catalina dressing all the time but never with this marinade added, but I will from now on, Its fantastic! I grilled the chicken and that little bit of char with the marinade is the perfect combination! This is a great recipe packed full of flavor!! We really enjoyed it, thanks a bunch for sharing A+

I looooove this salad recipe. Do you happen to have a recipe for just the salad dressing? I don’t always make the chicken. I tried to make a smaller batch of the marinade but since I’m not actually marinating any chicken and just making the salad dressing, I only needed the 1 TBS for the salad dressing. So good!

I made this recipe without changing a thing. It mentions to start with less on the sugar and I did only use half as I thought it was perfect that way. This is such a delicious entree salad with room to add/sub other things. I think it would be great with toasted pumpkin seeds on top and I might sub grilled red peppers for the tomatoes for a different flavor. You could sub Cotija cheese for the cheddar. Overall, it needs no adjustment.

I have the chicken in marinating right now. Since I am doing Keto I made the dressing and did not add any sweetener at all. It doesn’t need it in my opinion. The flavor is delicious. I am looking forward to my chicken salad later this afternoon! P.S. No corn or beans for me.

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